Elizabeth “Libby” Wheatley passed away on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 in Montague, following a late-stage, rapidly-progressing cancer diagnosis. As she made her transition Libby was lovingly surrounded by her cousin and cats. Libby is survived by siblings, John Wheatley, of Natick, Massachusetts, Benjamin Wheatley, of Waltham, Massachusetts, Eric Wheatley of Littleton, Massachusetts, Marian Wheatley Comeau of Danvers, Massachusetts and brother-in-law, Michael.
She was preceded in death by her father, Robert E. Wheatley, M.D., and mother, Jane Davis Wheatley of Wellesley Massachusetts. Libby was born in Newton, Massachusetts and was raised in Wellesley. She attended Wellesley public schools where she participated in interscholastic field hockey, basketball, softball, track and field and St. John’s C.Y.O Basketball as well as track and field and x-country with the Liberty Athletic Club of Boston.
She attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where she earned a baccalaureate degree in economics and competed on the swimming and track and field teams. She earned a master’s degree in Kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and master’s and doctoral degrees in Sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Libby was a member of the sociology departments at Smith College as well as Hamilton College and Grand Valley State University.
Her scholarship and teaching addressed the politics of health, health and social inequalities, health and social justice and health and human rights. Libby was a life-long fan of the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, and Boston Celtics. She enjoyed running and horseback riding and was an enthusiastic bicyclist, backpacker, trekker and kayaker.
Libby especially enjoyed solo backpacking and kayaking adventures in the wilderness. In 2015 she made a pilgrimage to France and Spain, trekking from Lourdes, France, to San Sebastian, Spain, along the GR-65, GR-10 and Camino del Norte. She spent the remainder of the summer visiting a number of Catholic pilgrimage sites, including Santiago de Compostela, Alba de Tormes, Avila, Segovia and Lisieux.
In 2017 Libby spent the spring and summer teaching at a small university in Germany. She spent her weekends travelling throughout Europe and hiking in the Austrian and Swiss Alps. Before returning home, Libby completed the Tour du Mont Blanc, a two-week trek circumnavigating the Mt.
Blanc massif, through the French, Italian and Swiss Alps. Visitation is Saturday, March 30th, beginning at 9 am at St. James Catholic Church in Montague. The Funeral Mass will be held Saturday, 10 am at the church with Fr.
Peter Omogo as Celebrant. Interment will take place in the summer in Kerhonkson, NY, where there will be a separate memorial service.
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